“He worked at a government agency. I’m not sure which one. As I said, he was your mother’s handler. They developed feelings for each other and acted on those feelings. I’m sure it was a very difficult time for both of them. Jack was actually engaged to someone else, but then he fell in love with your mother. And . . . and then they . . . got together and your mother became pregnant with you and your sister.”
Mercy smiled. “You have a nice, polite way with words, Carol. You mean they had sex and out popped twins.”
“That’s one way to describe it,” said Blum primly.
She turned left to follow the Escalade.
“And where is this Lineberry guy now?”
“He’s at his estate in Georgia.”
“Estate, huh? Must be nice.”
“He’s leaving everything to you and Agent Pine, by the way. All his wealth. You will be a very rich woman when the time comes.”
Blum glanced at Mercy to see her reaction to this. It wasn’t what she expected. Or maybe it was.
Mercy was frowning. “I get by just fine. I don’t need big bucks from a guy who screwed my mom.”
“Well, it will come to you eventually. And you can do with it what you want.”
“You’re assuming I outlive the guy. Nothing is guaranteed,” she added bluntly.
“No argument there.”
Five minutes later Blum said, “It looks like we have arrived.”
The Escalade had slowed and turned into a long drive that led up to a substantial home on about five acres.
“Well, whoever we’re dealing with has some bucks of his own,” noted Mercy.
Blum slowed the Porsche and pulled past the driveway the Escalade had turned into. Then she drove on and turned into the parking lot of a church that was down the street a bit. There were other cars in the parking lot, and she edged in between two of them so as not to stand out.
She stared across the street at the house.
“They might have Agent Pine in there.”
“Maybe so. Now what do we do?”
“We could call the police, but we really have no grounds to do so. And if they come and find nothing in there, the people will know we’re on to them.”
“I can go take a look,” offered Mercy.
“No, it’s too dangerous. If they are in there, they could capture or kill you.”
“Then what—we just wait out here while they might be in there hurting Lee?”
Blum looked torn. “But you have no experience doing this sort of thing.”
“Let me tell you something, I’ve kicked the shit out of more ‘tough’ guys than any gal you’ll ever meet, including your boss. There’s a lot to worry about with this, but me not being able to handle myself ain’t one of them.”
“But—”
Mercy started to open the door. “I’ll be careful. I’ll just go and take a peek. Okay?”
Blum’s defenses crumbled away. “Are you sure?”
“As sure as my name is Mercy Pine.” She leaned into the back seat, zipped open her duffel, and took out her Glock in the belt clip.
When Blum saw it she said, “Do you have a permit for that?”
“Where I got it, you don’t need a permit or a background check. And North Carolina is an ‘open carry without a permit’ state. I checked that before I came here.”